System architectures in multi-mode mobile terminals

This paper focuses on the architecture partitioning for baseband ICs and RF transceivers in multi-mode and multi-band 3.5G mobile terminals and gives an overview on the various influences and boundary conditions affecting the system architectures in today's solutions. The different and partly contradicting aspects which have to be considered for architectural decisions are explained, resulting questions are summarized and solutions are illustrated with examples. Furthermore, the evolution of multi-mode architectures is shown from the past up to actual implementations and an outlook on future trends is also given. The actual partitioning strategy between baseband and RF transceiver is explained in detail and the status of the interface definition and standardization is presented.